Foxwoods staff extends outreach for the holidays

Thursday

Dec 19, 2013 at 7:14 PMDec 20, 2013 at 2:24 AM

By Adam Bensonabenson@norwichbulletin.com (860) 908-7004

NEW LONDON — For a few families who received gifts during the first day of Tommy Toy Fund distribution Wednesday, the experience was made a bit more special than usual thanks to a full-sized Foxwoods Resort Casino shuttle bus.

Over the course of three weeks, Foxwoods employees, vendors and members of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council stuffed the large vehicle with $11,000 worth of toys, blankets, clothing and diapers to benefit the 40th annual Bulletin-sponsored holiday toy drive.

“We’re excited that it was so successful. The day we launched, the entire Tribal Council showed up with donations,” said John Voisinet, Foxwoods’ director of bus marketing. His team came up with the idea.

Voisinet was among the Mashantucket Pequot and Foxwoods volunteers working with the United Way who helped fill orders for toys, books and gloves at the Tommy Toy Fund sites in New London and Norwich. The fund also had a distribution site in Danielson. About 5,000 children from more than 2,000 families were served this year.

When filling the bus, officials didn’t just look for support locally, either. Voisinet said the campaign was advertised at every Foxwoods bus stop location from Maine to New Jersey.

Voisinet said the casino’s retail department also donated merchandise.

The giving campaign started Nov. 18 and ran through Dec. 8. The packed bus was then unloaded at the Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor/Food Center in New London, and the contents were distributed to all three Tommy Toy Fund sites.

Alice Soscia, a United Way employee and site coordinator of the New London location, said the contributions of casino employees and tribal leaders was “outside-the-box” thinking that contributed to the massive inventory needed for this year’s event.

“When we saw the bus, it was overwhelming to see one of our tried-and-true partners step up in a way the United Way never could,” she said.

Mike Orsene, a sales manager in Voisinet’s department, said his co-workers were quick to embrace the effort.

On Thursday, Orsene and Voisinet visited the New London site and were gratified, they said, to see the actions of so many volunteers pay off for people in need.

“I think it’s great to be able to help people who are unfortunate and don’t have what we have,” Orsene said.

Tribal Council Chairman Rodney Butler said the 20-year relationship between the Mashantuckets and United Way led to its work with the Tommy Toy Fund.

“It wasn’t in particular the Tommy Toy Fund per se, it was really just the fact of the holiday season, and the ability to be on the giving side of thing. The Tommy Toy Fund aligned with the spirit of what we’re trying to do,” Butler said.

He said the fund is a “great distribution channel to get toys into the hands of the right people.”

The good will spread to Norwich as well, where volunteers in The Bulletin’s warehouse worked to fill orders for clients.

“It’s great to see the people and the gratitude they have being able to celebrate Christmas,” said Sean Ryan, who works for Norwich Public Utilities.

In addition to NPU, Norwich Free Academy students and employees of several other local businesses helped out. Some came to help because they were on the receiving end several years ago.

“We were in a shelter at the time, and if we didn’t have Tommy Toy Fund, we wouldn’t have celebrated Christmas,” Lisa Desso, of Norwich, said.